It could be even longer if the election ends up balanced on the edge of a razor-thin vote in Ohio or if voting irregularities spark legal challenges in any of a number of critical states.

Either situation could drag out the decision until mid-November or even longer, analysts say.

Photos:Election 2012: The best photos

Photos:Election 2012: The best photos

Election 2012: The best photos – A blur of waving flags greeted President Barack Obama's victory speech at an election night event in Chicago, Illinois.

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Photos:Election 2012: The best photos

Election 2012: The best photos – President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden look ahead to a second term and vowed to fight for equal opportunity for all.

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Photos:Election 2012: The best photos

Election 2012: The best photos – Flags fluttered in Chicago as President Barack Obama delivered his victory speech after being reelected for a second term.

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Election 2012: The best photos – First lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden hugged and will spend four more years in the public eye.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Red, white and blue confetti snowed down on President Barack Obama after a victory speech that promised brighter days ahead.

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Election 2012: The best photos – A supporter listened intently to President Barack Obama's victory speech in Chicago.

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Election 2012: The best photos – "We know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come," President Obama said in a victory speech met by prolonged cheers.

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Election 2012: The best photos – President Barack Obama embraced Vice President Joe Biden after delivering his victory speech at McCormick Place in Chicago.

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Election 2012: The best photos – With first lady Michell Obama at his side, President Barack Obama gave the crowd a wave at an election night celebration in Chicago.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Children climbed trees outside the White House in Washington as people celebrated President Obama's victory at the polls.

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Election 2012: The best photos – A South Korean woman carried a cardboard cutout of Republican Mitt Romney at an election night party in Seoul. South Koreans watched the race closely.

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Election 2012: The best photos – President Barack Obama rode a wave of broad support from minorities, women and moderates to win re-election.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Emotion washed over an Obama supporter as the newly reeleted president deivered his victory speech in Chicago.

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Election 2012: The best photos – President Barack Obama embraced first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia moments before he delivered a rousing victory speech.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Obama supporters beamed and cheered as he delivered an inspiring and inclusive victory speech.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Victorious, President Barack Obama was joined onstage by first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Young Obama supporters watched the president stride onto the stage to deliver his victory speech.

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Election 2012: The best photos – President Barack Obama clapped onstage in Chicago as the crowd cheered his reelection.

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Election 2012: The best photos – President Barack Obama walked onstage with first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia to deliver his victory speech.

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Election 2012: The best photos – People gathered in Times Square in New York City and celebrated four more years in office for President Barack Obama.

Election 2012: The best photos – Voter Sheresa Walker used a flashlight for poll worker Lloyd Edwards in a tent set up as a polling place in Queens, New York. The area is still reeling from Superstorm Sandy.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Shadows were cast on a wall next to a television advertising "Election Night 2012" inside the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, where Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was scheduled to speak Tuesday evening.

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Election 2012: The best photos – A volunteer prepared ballots at a polling station in San Francisco, California.

Election 2012: The best photos – A voter's bicycle leaned against a wall at a lifeguard station, home to a polling place in Hermosa Beach, California.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Voters walked past a plethora of campaign signs after casting their ballots at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Missouri.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Jesse James, whose home was damaged by Superstorm Sandy, prepared to vote in a makeshift tent set up as a polling place in Rockaway Park, a neighborhood in Queens, New York.

Election 2012: The best photos – President Obama greeted supporters outside a campaign office in Chicago.

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Election 2012: The best photos – A jogger on The Strand in the Los Angeles area community of Hermosa Beach passed a directional sign to a polling place at sunrise.

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Election 2012: The best photos – The stage was set for Obama's election night event in Chicago.

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Election 2012: The best photos – James Tate, 45, held a sign in support of the Republican ticket in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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Election 2012: The best photos – A nun waited in line to cast her vote in Janesville, Wisconsin.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Children's books about politics lined a wall where citizens waited to cast their vote in Janesville, Wisconsin.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Volunteer David Bowser peeked outside the Pinellas County Democratic Party headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Election inspector Jim Nodorft prepared to hang the U.S. flag outside the Smelser Town Hall as polls opened at 7 a.m. in Georgetown, Wisconsin.

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Election 2012: The best photos – People headed to a polling station at Washington's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library on Tuesday.

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Election 2012: The best photos – The sunrise was visible through a bus window on Election Day in Chicago.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Voters entered Washington Mill Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia, to cast their ballots Tuesday.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Rain did no deter voters from waiting in line in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Sunshine State -- with its 29 electoral votes -- was a key player in determining the next president.

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Election 2012: The best photos – A young girl peered out from under a voting booth as her mother cast a ballot at the Bishop Leo O'Neil Youth Center in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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Election 2012: The best photos – William Carpenter, an assistant fire chief, put up an election rules sign at the entrance of a firehouse polling station Tuesday in Port Royal, Virginia.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Poll worker David Smith used a tape measure to mark a boundary at a Bowling Green, Ohio, school to keep local politicians 100 feet away from where voters cast ballots.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Precinct official Bill Partlow inspected a voting machine before polls open Tuesday in Pineville, North Carolina.

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Election 2012: The best photos – Voters in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, waited shortly after midnight to cast the first Election Day ballots of the U.S. presidential race. For the first time in the village's history, there was a tie.

Crowley on Election Day in America

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Strickland: Ohio goes Obama at 11:37 pm

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Whatever happens, some indications should begin to trickle in now that the first waves of poll closings have come, ending voting in Virginia, Florida, Ohio and other key states.

West Coast states and Hawaii will stop voting at 11 p.m. ET, and the last Americans will cast their ballots in Alaska by 1 a.m. ET Wednesday.

The first place to look: Virginia, according to analysts. But the reporting of results was paused after 7 p.m. because many voters remained in line after the scheduled poll closing time, the state Board of Elections said.

When results do come in, Prince William County will be a key indicator, CNN chief national correspondent John King said.

"One of the first things I'll look at are the margins in the northern Virginia suburbs closest to Washington, D.C., especially Prince William County," he said.

"If Gov. Romney is ahead or at least in play there, it means Virginia is in play, and we could have a long, competitive night," King said. "If he's not in play, it could be over before we even get to the Central time zone."

CNN's chief politcal analyst, Gloria Borger, agreed that Virginia will have a lot to say about what happens later.

"We have to look at Loudoun County in Virginia, and if the president were to win Virginia, obviously, the path to 270 is a lot easier for him," she said. "But if Mitt Romney wins Virginia, it could be a much longer night."

CNN political reporter Peter Hamby said that results from early and absentee balloting in Pasco County, Florida, could also offer a tantalizing glimpse of what the night may hold.

Barack Obama won the early and absentee vote in the slightly Republican-leaning county in 2008. If Obama comes up trailing when those early votes are posted soon after polls close, it could indicate the president might have trouble carrying Florida and its crucial electoral votes, according to Hamby.

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Rubio: Ohio a critical state for Romney

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If Ohio becomes key to the election, it's possible that bag of popcorn isn't going to hold you.

If the margin separating Romney and Obama is particularly thin, the election in that key battleground state could ride on absentee and provisional ballots. And that could keep the nation in suspense for a whopping 10 days.

That's how long Ohio law gives poll workers to check the eligibility of provisional voters.

Ohio has one of the nation's highest rates of provisional voting, with 211,000 cast in 2008, according to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted. About 40,000 were later thrown out.

Husted says he thinks the election in Ohio will hinge on the state's central counties, and the results will be known before midnight.

"I really believe that we will be able to project a winner tonight," he said. "I think that people will have to stay up past their bedtime to be able to do that. But it's likely that we'll know by the end of the evening."

The worst nightmare scenario is a redux of 2000, when the nation suffered through weeks of uncertainty amid recounts and legal challenges surrounding the vote in Florida.

And, sorry to say it, as tightly contested as this race is, it is a possibility, analysts say.

"Between provisional balloting, absentee balloting and voting technology, I think there are untold different ways that this is a tense, contested election," said Rebecca Green, co-director of the Election Law Program at William & Mary Law School. "It's pretty certain there's going to be some litigation when this is over on November 6."